Natural diamonds were (and are) formed (thousands of million years ago) in the upper mantle of Earth in metallic melts at temperatures of 900-1,400 °C and at pressures of 5-6 GPa (refs. ). Diamond is thermodynamically stable under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions as per the phase diagram of carbon. Scientists at General Electric invented and used a high-pressure and high-temperature apparatus in 1955 to synthesize diamonds by using molten iron sulfide at about 7 GPa and 1,600 °C (refs. ). There is an existing model that diamond can be grown using liquid metals only at both high pressure and high temperature. Here we describe the growth of diamond crystals and polycrystalline diamond films with no seed particles using liquid metal but at 1 atm pressure and at 1,025 °C, breaking this pattern. Diamond grew in the subsurface of liquid metal composed of gallium, iron, nickel and silicon, by catalytic activation of methane and diffusion of carbon atoms into and within the subsurface regions. We found that the supersaturation of carbon in the liquid metal subsurface leads to the nucleation and growth of diamonds, with Si playing an important part in stabilizing tetravalently bonded carbon clusters that play a part in nucleation. Growth of (metastable) diamond in liquid metal at moderate temperature and 1 atm pressure opens many possibilities for further basic science studies and for the scaling of this type of growth.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07339-7 | DOI Listing |
Polymers (Basel)
January 2025
Department of Mechanical Engineering, CEMMPRE, University of Coimbra, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal.
The idea supporting the investigation of the current manuscript was to develop customized filters for air conditioners with different pore percentages and geometry with the additional advantage of presenting antibacterial performance. This property was expected due to the reinforcement of Cu nanoparticles in the polymeric matrix of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and polyurethane (TPU). The filaments were characterized by their chemical composition, thermal and mechanical properties, and antibacterial behavior before and after processing by fused filament fabrication.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPathogens
December 2024
Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Rzeszów University of Technology, Powstańców Warszawy 6, 35-959 Rzeszów, Poland.
and are challenging to differentiate using methods such as phenotyping, 16S rRNA sequencing, or protein profiling through matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI MS) due to their close relatedness. This study explores the potential for identifying and by incorporating reference spectra of metabolite profiles, obtained via surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (SALDI MS) employing gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), into the Bruker Biotyper database. Metabolite extracts from and cells were prepared using liquid-liquid extraction in a chloroform-methanol-water system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMolecules
January 2025
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Fuel Cell Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China.
Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) have attracted much attention due to their excellent flexibility, strong interfacial adhesion, and good processibility. However, the poor interfacial contact between the separate solid polymer electrolytes and electrodes leads to large interfacial impedance and, thus, hinders Li transport. In this work, an ionic liquid-modified comb-like crosslinked network composite solid-state electrolyte with an integrated electrolyte/cathode structure is prepared by in situ ultraviolet (UV) photopolymerization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMolecules
January 2025
Yunnan Key Laboratory of Metal-Organic Molecular Materials and Device, Kunming University, Kunming 650214, China.
A covalent organic framework (COF) has emerged as a promising photocatalyst for the removal of pharmaceutical and personal care product (PPCP) contaminants; however, high-performance COF photocatalysts are still scarce. In this study, three COF photocatalysts were successfully synthesized by the condensation of benzo[1,2-b:3,4-b':5,6-b'']trithiophene-2,5,8-tricarbaldehyde (BTT) with 4,4',4''-(1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triyl)trianiline (TAPT), 1,3,5-Tris(4-aminophenyl)benzene (TAPB), and 4,4',4''-nitrilotris(benzenamine) (TAPA), namely, BTT-TAPA, BTT-TAPB, and BTT-TAPT, respectively. The surface areas of BTT-TAPA, BTT-TAPB, and BTT-TAPT were found to be 800.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMolecules
January 2025
Department of Chemical Engineering, Louisiana Tech University, 600 Dan Reneau Drive, P.O. Box 10348, Ruston, LA 71272, USA.
Adequate water supplies are crucial for missions to the Moon, since water is essential for astronauts' health. Ionic liquids (ILs) have been investigated for processing metal oxides, the main components of lunar regolith, to separate oxygen and metals. The IL must be diluted in the process.
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